Institutionalized religions always go bad. They make religions easier to co-opt by large cultural & political forces, rather than remaining tools for the growth of wisdom. They emphasize culture above understanding of practice & growth in wisdom. They encourage hierarchy beyond what is needed, inevitably creating rigid orthodoxy & elevating individuals to seductive levels of power. Like any bureaucracy, they inevitably confuse the institution itself with its original goal; they protect structures & the individual people who benefit from them, corrupting their whole reason for being. (Buddhist religious institutions are no exception to this.)
The internet means communities no longer necessarily need to serve as holders of doctrine, the “rules” for the community. By exposing small communities to a wide variety of interpretations, communications technologies can help avoid rigid orthodoxy. A small, local sangha can focus on social & emotional support. It can govern itself by consensus. Digital technologies, wisely used, hold the promise of a decentralized wisdom practice that allows for variety of expression & understanding. This is what Vincent Horn has called a “meta-sangha”.1 Local sanghas can provide enough community (as local village groups always have).
- Meta-Sanghas, by Vincent Horn, on Medium.↩